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PwC’s consulting ban from Saudi fund has rivals hunting for work

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Rival consultants to PwC are gearing up for the chance to make deeper inroads into the lucrative market of Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the Public Investment Fund’s decision to ban the company from advisory work for a year.

Managers at Deloitte and Ernst & Young have instructed staffers to prepare for more work in the kingdom, according to people familiar with their thinking. Some firms have already been invited to bid for contracts tied to some of the kingdom’s most prestigious and lucrative projects, including Neom and AlUla, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is confidential.

Those moves show that the consultancy’s competitors believe they stand a better chance of securing contracts in the kingdom with a key rival sidelined. The PIF’s decision centers around PwC’s advisory work and the firm can still pursue auditing contracts, Bloomberg News first reported last month.

Representatives for Deloitte, EY and PwC declined to comment.  

One key question for PwC’s competitors would be their ability to absorb any additional contracts, given the relatively limited local pool of consultants.

Some firms are already preparing for that risk. EY has flown in more than a dozen staffers from other offices to prepare for any new work the firm is able to pick up, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. 

PwC hasn’t publicly commented on the reasons behind the ban, though in a memo to staff Regional Managing Partner Ken Walsh said the issue wasn’t related to service delivery or regulatory breaches. PwC Global Chairman Mohamed Kande is said to have traveled to Riyadh in recent weeks.

Biggest, fastest growing

The PIF is responsible for carrying out the kingdom’s economic transformation plan, known as Vision 2030, and has set up about 100 portfolio companies to pull off the ambitious program. That includes Neom, a $1.5 trillion new city on the west coast, as well as other projects aimed at building out historic areas like Diriyah and AlUla into tourist destinations.

Contracts related to those projects have made the fund a driver of growth for consultants and handed a lifeline to the sector, which is grappling with an extended slump around the world. Consultancy work for the PIF and its portfolio companies likely generates hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the industry, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Middle East region generated £1.97 billion ($2.5 billion) in revenue for PwC UK, the corporate entity that includes the region, in the 12 months to June 30. Saudi Arabia is the biggest and fastest-growing market for consulting within the Gulf, making up more than half of the $6 billion in regional revenue, according to the research firm Insights. 

PwC, echoing its competitors, reported slower global growth in 2024 as demand for consulting work waned and revenue shrunk in its Australia and China businesses. In September, Beijing suspended the firm’s operations for six months and imposed a $62 million penalty over lapses in its auditing of failed developer China Evergrande Group.

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CrowdStrike says DOJ, SEC sent inquiries on firm accounting

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CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. said U.S. officials have asked for information related to the accounting of deals it’s made with some customers and said the cybersecurity firm is cooperating with the inquiry.

The Austin, Texas-based company said in a filing Wednesday that it has gotten “requests for information” from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission “relating to the company’s recognition of revenue and reporting of ARR for transactions with certain customers.” ARR refers to annual recurring revenue, a measure of earnings from subscriptions.

The company said the federal officials have also sought information related to a CrowdStrike update last year that crashed Windows operating systems around the world.

“The company is cooperating and providing information in response to these requests,” the filing states.

U.S. prosecutors and regulators have been investigating a $32 million deal between CrowdStrike and a technology distributor, Carahsoft Technology Corp., to provide cybersecurity tools to the Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg News first reported in February. The IRS never purchased or received the products, Bloomberg News earlier reported.

The investigators are probing what senior CrowdStrike executives may have known about the $32 million deal and are examining other transactions made by the cybersecurity firm, Bloomberg News reported in May.

Asked for comment about the filing, CrowdStrike spokesperson Brian Merrill said, “As we have told Bloomberg repeatedly, this is old news and we stand by the accounting of the transaction.” 

A lawyer for Carahsoft previously declined to comment on the federal investigations, and representatives didn’t respond to subsequent requests for comment about them.

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Elon Musk urges Americans take action to ‘kill’ Trump tax cut bill

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Tech titan Elon Musk ratcheted up his offensive against Donald Trump’s signature tax bill on Wednesday, urging that Americans contact their lawmakers to “KILL” the legislation.

“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman,” Musk wrote in a social media post. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok!”

The post came one day after Musk lashed out at the tax bill, describing it as a budget-busting “disgusting abomination” as Republican fiscal hawks stepped up criticism of the massive fiscal package. 

Trump hasn’t publicly responded to Musk’s comments, but the White House put out a statement Wednesday saying the legislation “unleashes an era of unprecedented economic growth.” 

And House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Musk is “dead wrong” about the bill and that the tax cuts will pay for themselves through economic growth.

Musk’s public condemnation pits him against the president at a critical time as Trump is personally lobbying holdouts on the bill. His campaign against the legislation threatens to stiffen resistance and delay enactment of the tax cuts and debt ceiling increase. 

Musk has attacked the legislation days after leaving a temporary assignment leading the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative to cut federal spending. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer’s high-profile role in the Trump administration eroded his business brand and sales of his company’s electric vehicles plunged. 

The House-passed version of the tax and spending bill would add $2.4 trillion to U.S. budget deficits over the next decade, according to an estimate released Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO’s calculation reflects a $3.67 trillion decrease in expected revenues and a $1.25 trillion decline in spending over the decade through 2034, relative to baseline projections. The score doesn’t account for any potential boost to the economy from the bill, which Johnson and Trump argue would offset the revenue losses. 

Musk, the world’s richest man with a net worth of about $377 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has become a crucial financial backer of the Republican party. After making modest donations most years, Musk became the biggest U.S. political donor in 2024, giving more than $290 million.

Johnson said Musk had promised to help reelect Republicans just a day before savaging Trump’s bill. Musk did not respond to a request for comment. 

Most of Musk’s giving was aimed at electing Trump but he also supported congressional candidates. America PAC, the super political action committee that Musk largely funded, spent $18.5 million in 17 separate House races. Though that total pales in comparison to the roughly $255 million he spent backing Trump, the spending means a lot in a congressional election, where challengers on average raise less than $1 million.

Control of the House will likely be decided by the outcome of fewer than two dozen close races in the 2026 midterm elections. The GOP’s chances of holding their majority would suffer a major blow if Musk were to withdraw his financial support.

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Accounting

M&A Watch: PE fuels deals for CRI, UHY, Prosperity

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Three private equity-backed firms have made deals: Carr, Riggs & Ingram has expanded into East Texas by merging in Axley & Rode; UHY is continuing its expansion in St. Louis by adding Sabino & Co.; and Prosperity Partners moved into Vermont by adding Danaher, Attig & Plante. Meanwhile, Top 100 Firm Sensiba has acquired Australia-based cybersecurity audit and risk assurance firm AssuranceLab.

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